


The Best Worst Tag Team Investigation

by PluralForce



Category: Team Batista Series, 相棒 | Aibou | Partners (TV)
Genre: Case Fic, Crossover, Gen, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21931516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PluralForce/pseuds/PluralForce
Summary: Shiratori and Taguchi are called to investigate an apparently accidental death in a hospital while Sugishita and Kai decide to do some further investigation into the same case. No one’s entirely sure if it’s the best or worst clash of personalities ever.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	The Best Worst Tag Team Investigation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geri_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geri_chan/gifts).



> I couldn’t not write this request when I realized that Shiratori vs. Sugishita would be like unstoppable force vs. immovable object. I hope you like it!

“So why did you need my help on this case, Shiratori-san?” Taguchi asks as they’re on their way to a nearby Tokyo hospital.

“Come on, Gucchi, you’re my assistant! Of course I need your help!” Shiratori says, putting on his best scandalized voice. In a more normal tone, he continues, “Also, the hospital director asked for the two of us by name, apparently. It seems like he’s an old friend of Director Takashina and called in a favor from him, so you’re on loan to me for this case.”

If Taguchi is offended at the idea of being “on loan,” as Shiratori put it, he doesn’t show it. “It must be something big if he’s asking for us,” Taguchi says, eyes widening.

“Mm, more like he wants to make sure his ass is covered,” Shiratori says. “I’ve heard a few of the details. Apparently a nurse who works at this hospital went in for a minor operation and was given the wrong dosage of a drug, which killed her. They’re treating it as an accidental death, and most likely it is, but because she was one of their own, the director wants to be extra sure.”

Taguchi nods, looking serious. “I see. That does sounds serious. I hope it really was just an accident.” Shiratori can see from the look on his face, though, that Taguchi has learned not to be too blindly optimistic by now.

——

“So?” Kai says as they’re walking to the hospital. “If you’re following up on this case, Sugishita-san, I’m guessing it’s not a simple accident like the report said.”

“Mm. There’s something bothering me about this incident, but I can’t quite put my finger on what yet,” Sugishita agrees.

“Curious, curious,” Kai says with a grin. These are the cases he’s found himself taking an interest in, the ones where it’s obvious something’s off but you can’t be sure what until you do the digging. Sugishita’s instincts are, honestly, disturbingly sharp, and if he thinks there’s something there, there probably is.

They get to the hospital and are quickly escorted to an empty conference room where they’re told one of the nurses will be by to talk to them. Nobody else is supposed to be on this case, so imagine Kai’s surprise when he sees two other people already there poking their noses around. There’s some asshole in a suit and then a shorter and much friendlier-looking guy in a doctor’s coat.

“Are you two with the hospital?” Kai asks cautiously.

The suit asshole waves his hand no. “Oh, no, we’re actually—”

The guy is just pulling out a business card when Sugishita steps up with a faint smile.

“You are Shiratori-san from the Ministry of Health, are you not?” he says. “And you must be Taguchi-sensei.”

Wait, what? Sugishita knows these guys?

Shiratori raises his eyebrows. “Well, it would seem you have us at a disadvantage.”

Sugishita pulls out his badge. “I’m Sugishita from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and this is Kai,” he adds as Kai flashes his own badge. “I must say, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been following your cases ever since the Batista Incident.”

Kai whistles. “Ooh, the Batista Incident? Even I’ve heard of that one,” he says. Well, yeah. You’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard of that absolute nightmare of a case. These are the guys who solved that disaster? Kai finds himself taking a second look at the seemingly unassuming doctor who is, apparently, a much bigger deal than Kai thought.

Shiratori looks Sugishita up and down like he’s not sure what to make of him. Yeah, Kai knows the feeling.

“Excuse me,” Taguchi interjects. “I thought the police were finished with this case since it was declared an accident? At least, that’s what Shiratori-san told me.” The guy’s tone is polite and gentle, and Kai takes a liking to him immediately.

“On paper, perhaps,” Sugishita agrees. “However, there were some details that I just couldn’t let go of, so I decided to come back and take a second look.”

“Ah, I see,” Shiratori drawls in a voice that makes Kai prickle. “So are you the one they send when they don’t want to bother anyone actually important with these things?”

Uh, rude?

Kai opens his mouth to go off on the guy, but Sugishita stops him in his tracks by smiling that completely unfazed smile of his.

“Something like that, yes,” Sugishita says.

——

Taguchi is filled in on the details as they wait. It seems like a straightforward enough case: the nurse on duty, Nanami, input the wrong dosage amount into the system and gave the patient, Tachibana, ten times the regular dosage. Taguchi can see the look of disgust on Shiratori’s face as Sugishita relays this information to them calmly.

“What I find odd in this situation,” Sugishita says in that same even tone he’s had for everything, “is that the patient was a nurse herself. Surely she would have had the expertise to notice that the dosage for her medicine was wrong?”

“Not if she didn’t know what was being put into the computer,” Shiratori counters. “It’s as simple as a missed keystroke. Or saying you’re inputting one thing and actually entering another.”

“That is true. I merely thought it was odd,” Sugishita says.

“By the way, why do you even care about this case?” Shiratori asks, tone shifting to something more antagonistic. “There are so many cases of these kinds of deaths every year, why is your interest suddenly piqued with only one of them?”

Oh boy. Here it comes. Taguchi braces himself.

Sugishita, to his credit, doesn’t even look fazed. “This particular case was something my department was already looking into before it was declared an accident, and as I said before, some of the details I found odd, so I thought it pertinent to investigate further.”

Shiratori sneers. “So you only investigate cases you find interesting? What, and all of the others are just tossed off to the side, left to rot? What kind of detective are you?”

“You misunderstand me,” Sugishita says, still unflinching. “The police department as a whole investigates all cases that come to us. However, I in particular have, shall we say, not the greatest reputation among my fellow officers, and so my partner and I more often find our own work instead of being assigned to it.”

“Ahhh, I see now,” Shiratori says with a nod. “You’re the pest. You do what you want because they can’t handle you otherwise.”

Sugishita smiles. “That’s not precisely the way I would put it, but you may be right about that.”

Taguchi gapes at them. “Amazing,” he says quietly, barely even realizing he’s speaking aloud. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone completely immune to Shiratori’s provocation.”

He’s actually quite impressed; when Shiratori goes on this line of attack, it’s usually so he can make the other person lose their cool and say what they’re really feeling, but Sugishita is just… not letting it get to him, at all. He’s calmly explaining the situation while staying resolutely pleasant in the face of all Shiratori’s barbs and implied insults. Taguchi has never seen anything like it. He only wishes he had that level of self-confidence.

Next to him, Kai makes an undignified noise. “Is he always like this? Because I see it getting old quickly.”

Taguchi winces. “Not _all_ the time, but…”

Kai starts to say something, but the door opens and the nurse Nanami enters, cutting off their conversation.

Sugishita sits down in the chair across from Nanami. Shiratori looks at Taguchi and waves him into the seat next to Sugishita; Taguchi moves there hesitantly.

Nanami hunches in on herself and stares down at the table. When she speaks, her voice is choked up with tears. “You’re—you’re here to ask about Tachibana-san, right?”

“Yes, we are. If you could tell us everything that happened in detail,” Sugishita says.

“I don’t—I already told the police what happened,” Nanami says with a sniffle. “Why do I have to keep going over it?”

Taguchi leans forward. “Please, Nanami-san, we want to help you,” he says in a reassuring voice. “There may have been some details that someone overlooked. Can you help us make sure we understand what happened?”

Nanami stares at him with wide eyes, then nods. Good, she’s coming around.

“Well… I was the one who took Tachibana in and filled out her chart. I was sure I put in the right dosage number, I even double-checked it! But—”

“Around when would this have been? What time?” Kai interrupts.

“Uh—early afternoon. Around two o’clock, maybe? Two-thirty?”

“And when did you notice the error in the medication?” Sugishita asks.

Nanami starts crying. “Not until—after I gave it to her later that night! I should have—checked the label one more time to be sure…”

“Yes, you should have,” Shiratori says bluntly. Taguchi turns around to give him a warning look. Shiratori shrugs, as if to say, _What? It’s true_. Well, yes, it’s true, but he doesn’t have to _say_ it.

“Would you happen to know,” Sugishita asks, “if there is anyone else who also attended to Tachibana-san, particularly without you present?”

Nanami falters. “Well… we all have to cover for each other sometimes… I know Ishiyama helped her get set up in her room while I was dealing with an emergency…” Her eyes go wide. “But she wouldn’t have done anything! She’s a close friend, really!”

Taguchi wants to believe her, but his gut is telling him otherwise, and from the looks he others are exchanging, they’re not the only ones.

——

Kai’s impression so far of Taguchi is someone who’s too damn nice, but like, in a good way, because it brings people around to him. Like the nurse, who easily started talking once Taguchi comforted her. His personality is such a mismatch with Shiratori’s that Kai can’t help but wonder what the heck the two are doing together in the first place.

“Why do you even hang around with that guy?” Kai mutters to Taguchi as they’re walking down to the records room. “You’re too _nice_. It’s wasted on someone like him.”

Taguchi laughs awkwardly. “He’s really not that bad once you get to know him.” At Kai’s skeptical look, he adds, “No, really!”

“Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it,” Kai says dryly.

Once they sit down at the computer, it takes Shiratori only a few moments to pull up Tachibana’s patient record. And there, in stark black and white, is the damning number in the medication dosage field that killed Tachibana.

Shiratori clicks around on a few things and makes a noise of disgust. “Unbelievable. They don’t have any failsafes in the software to prevent this kind of error from happening. A warning, a manual override, _something_.” He pushes back from the computer and crosses his arms, scowling. “Not to mention all the people this had to go through who looked at that number without even questioning it. Did nobody stop to wonder why they need such a huge amount? Did anybody even _look_ at the labels?” He looks like he’s about two seconds away from going on a longer rant, and honestly, Kai can’t blame him.

Taguchi’s eyes are wide. “Shiratori-san, if you’re going to take on another one of your pet projects, I’ll help, but please let me know first instead of springing it on me like you did with the AI center.” He says it with the air of someone who’s been through this many times before and knows exactly what’s coming.

Huh. Okay. Maybe Kai can start to see why Taguchi hangs around with this guy. Maybe. Just a little bit.

Then something catches his eye. A little section of the screen that’s easy to miss. “Hey—here, there’s a previous version.” He points at it.

“Hmm? What’s this?” Shiratori clicks on it and—it’s mostly the same as the previous chart. Except it has the correct dosage number on it.

“Quite interesting,” Sugishita says with a smile. “This may be our crucial piece of evidence. Well spotted, Kaito-kun.” Is that an actual hint of pride in his voice? Kai is starting to learn how to read him.

“Thank you, Sugishita-san. So, when was this edited?” Kai asks. “Nanami clearly said she never edited this after putting in the details.”

Shiratori clicks back and forth between the two versions. “Ten minutes after the record was made. So—if Nanami didn’t order the medication immediately, that leaves room for someone to have changed it and sabotaged her. And I think I know just the person.”

——

Nurse Ishiyama is a small woman with her hair up in a proper bun, and a look of wide-eyed innocence that Shiratori can immediately tell is fake.

“Can I ask what this is about…?” she asks without sitting down.

“Yes, of course. Nurse Nanami told us you were attending to the late Nurse Tachibana briefly after she was admitted,” Sugishita says.

“Well, yes, I filled in because Nanami had an emergency with another patient,” Ishiyama says, adopting a look of confusion. “Surely you’re not saying that I—”

Sugishita interrupts her. “You wouldn’t happen to have looked at her chart, would you? Did you happen to notice anything off?”

Going right in without giving her time to think, huh? Well done.

“I—well, I skimmed over it, but I didn’t look at too many of the details since I was just getting her settled in…”

“Hmm? That’s strange,” Shiratori drawls. “I’ve never heard of a nurse not looking at the chart for a patient they’re treating. Are you really that bad at your job?”

Good, good, now she’s looking offended.

“I didn’t think it was necessary!” she says, scowling. “Nanami was her primary nurse and I was only looking after her for a few minutes.”

Sugishita attacks again with that infuriatingly pleasant smile. “I was under the impression that nurses are detail-oriented people who would never dare to presume that ‘a few minutes’ is anything less than crucial time that could potentially cost a patient their life.”

Oh, this guy is _good_.

While Ishiyama is reeling from that, Shiratori pounces again. “I’ve been curious about something. Who actually put in the medication order? Was it Nanami or you?”

Ishiyama frowns. “Well—I did, just to save Nanami some time, since I was already there—”

“Hmmm?” Shiratori sneers at her. “So you didn’t look at her chart, but then you ordered the medication without looking to see what it was? You didn’t think double-checking might have been a good idea?”

“Like I said—”

“I must say, Ishiyama-san,” Sugishita says, “if you are trying to give me an impression of you as someone who is criminally incompetent at her job, you are doing splendidly at it.”

Okay, while Shiratori will always swear by the bad-cop-good-cop routine he has going with Taguchi, this tag team they’ve got here is going pretty excellently in a totally different way. He glances over at the other two to see Taguchi gaping open-mouthed at the two of them and Kai quietly grinning in approval.

“So,” Shiratori drawls. “You can be the nurse who altered someone’s chart and deliberately murdered a patient, or you can be the nurse who’s so terrible at being a nurse that you got someone killed through negligence. Which will it be?”

Ishiyama falls silent. After a minute, she speaks up again.

“You can’t prove anything,” she says quietly. “Even if you know the chart was edited, you can’t prove it was me and not Nanami who did it.”

Oh, _there_ we go.

“Just one thing,” Taguchi interrupts. “Why? Why would you do something like this?”

Ishiyama snorts. “You didn’t know Tachibana. She was arrogant, always making my life miserable, and everyone else pretended not to notice it. I was just giving her what she deserves."

That’s about when Shiratori puts on a fake expression of shock and pulls his phone out of his jacket pocket. “What’s this? Did you know we can record audio nowadays? How convenient!”

Ishiyama’s eyes go wide, then she hangs her head in defeat.

——

It doesn’t take long after that for Ishiyama to be arrested. Shiratori almost feels bad about having to tell the director that it wasn’t an accident after all, but—nah, he doesn’t feel bad.

As Sugishita and Kai are leaving, Shiratori stops them. “Here, my business card,” he says, handing one to each of them. “If you ever have a case in the medical area of expertise again, give me a call. Especially you, Sugishita—I think we made a pretty nice team back there.”

Sugishita smiles and puts the card away, then pulls out one of his own to give to Shiratori. “Likewise. If you ever need help from the police again, I would be glad to assist.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” he says, and finds he means it. These two are competent and they cared enough to come back and take a second look at the details, which is more than Shiratori can say about most cops he knows.

As he leaves with Taguchi, he can’t help but feel a strange sense of accomplishment about this case. Of course, no one could ever replace his tiny assistant here, but—it’s rare to find good allies, so why not keep them close, right?


End file.
